How do I Promote my Site?
There are many ways to promote your site beside search engines. The following 7 steps will get you on your way with promoting your site.
Submit your Site to the Search Engines
This is the most critical step. You need to submit your site to the major search engines to get it indexed and added to their databases. Before you submit your site make sure that is is optimized.
Submit your site to the different directories.
You want
to submit your site to the directories. This is important not only because
they drive traffic to your site, but also because it increases your link
popularity. Search engines care how many sites link to your site, so having
links from the directories is a big bonus to you.
You'll want to make sure that your site has no "under construction"
pages or dead links before submitting it to the directories. These directories
are almost 100% human checked and they won't accept any sites that are
dead.
The three major directories are:
Direct Mail
Direct mail can be an affordable way to get your name out to millions. Many people equate direct mail with SPAM, but this is not entirely correct. Many reputable companies offer direct mail campaigns to people that have expressly given permission to receive emails.
You can
read about how companies
such as this work.
Viral Campaigns
No this has nothing to do with virus's! A viral campaign is something that is so fun and interesting to the visitors that they pass it on to their friends. Typically this is a flash or downloadable game.
Promotion Companies
These companies do nothing but optimize and promote web sites. They are an excellent way to get your site out and into the world. These companies can be very affordable.
Banner Exchange Programs
Another affordable way to promote your site is through banner exchange programs. With these progams you display banners for other sites on your site and in return your banner is shown on other sites.
Link Exchange Programs
Link exchange programs operate similarly to banner exchange programs. With them you agree to display a link to a site in return they display a link to your site.